Happy New Year!

I started today by going to be fingerprinted. Not because of any crime committed (!) but as part of the procedure of having my alien registration card renewed. This rather messy event (called an ‘alien trip’ by our Immigration officer!) takes place every 2 years, coinciding with the now very expensive process, of work permit renewal. Driving to downtown Nairobi in what should have been the rush hour, the absence of traffic was notable, and the people who were around were in very good spirits. It seemed more like a holiday than a regular work day. On a number of occasions today, I’ve been greeted with, “Happy New Year”. With the signing yesterday by President Mwai Kibaki and ODM leader Raila Odinga, of a power-sharing deal which it is hoped will end the 2 months of political crisis in Kenya sparked by the disputed general elections at the end of 2007, it did indeed feel very much like a new and the start (finally) of a new year. The general sense has been one of palpable relief, and of hope that we can finally move forward as a nation.
One of Kenya’s main newspapers, the Daily Nation, reported the signing as:


“A Peace Deal at Last”
Under the deal brokered by chief mediator Kofi Annan and Tanzanian President Jakaya Kikwete, the leaders agreed to form a coalition government which will radically alter the way Kenya will be governed.
Mr Odinga is almost certain to become independent Kenya’s second Prime Minster after Mzee Jomo Kenyatta, who held the post at Independence in 1963.
Thursday’s agreement, which came after two days of intense diplomatic activity states that the post of Prime Minister will be created to co-ordinate and supervise affairs of Government. The Premier will be leader of the largest party or coalition in Parliament.


With at least 1,000 people killed and an estimated 300,000 displaced as a result of the fighting, this is just the first step on what will be a long journey of healing, forgiveness, reconciliation and restoration for this rather battered nation. But it’s a step in the right direction, and one that looked almost out of reach even just 2 days ago.

Differences

Coming back to Kenya after 7 months in the UK, I’m hit afresh by some of the differences living here rather than there. Having said that, after 5 years of being here, so much seems ‘normal’ to me now that sometimes it’s difficult to pick out the differences. So, here goes as an assortment of observations and advisory comments, some of which may well be elaborated on in posts to come.
- It’s very difficult to put across to those who’ve not experienced it how different driving here is, but in a nutshell :
* There is a sense of organised chaos on the roads
* Aggressive driving is the way to go. No point waiting your turn – it’ll never come!
* A lot of vehicles will do whatever it takes to get ahead – drive on the wrong side of the road, the pavements, through petrol station forecourts, …..
* Do not allow too much of a gap between you and the vehicle in front – someone else will be sure to fill it!
* If all that isn’t enough, the roads are generally more pot hole than tarmac!
* Red traffic lights are seemingly only to be acknowledged at certain junctions / roundabouts (and never at night).
* Be prepared to be blinded at night by oncoming vehicles. Very few seem to have heard of anything akin to the ‘Don’t dazzle – Dip your headlights’ slogan that was drummed into me through public service advertising.
- Poverty is in your face, whether through the people begging at the windows of drivers stuck in traffic jams, or just the sea of rusty corrugated iron roofed shacks that make up the slums of the city.
- As well as the beggars, you will be besieged by people selling a whole variety of things whilst you’re stuck in a traffic jam, or trying to negotiate your way onto and around a roundabout – roses, puppies, rabbits, pens, car fresheners, footballs, TV aerials, jump leads, sunglasses, hats, groundnuts, bananas, tummy trimmers (!), ………….
- There are generally a lot of people around on the streets, some walking, some seemingly just loitering.
- Beware of being behind a lorry or bus going up a hill – its brakes might not work. Do not be surprised therefore if people jump out and go scrabbling around for rocks to put under the wheels to stop it rolling backwards!
- The current security situation aside, crime is a daily concern here. It’s advisable to drive with car doors locked, and in certain places windows should be up (thank goodness for air con at such times!).
- You need to be in the habit of letting people know where you’re going, and if you’re driving home at night, txt those you’ve left to let them know you’re home safe. Better still, stay over. (One of the things I enjoyed while in the UK was not having to be on alert so much of the time, and to be free to drive at night without even thinking about it.)
- You don’t see front doors of houses here. They’re either behind their own individual walls and gates, or in a shared gated compound. Pretty much all have security guards on duty.
- Rather than just rinsing fruit and vegetables in water, one of the recommended practices is to soak them in a dilute bleach solution for 20 minutes. (It kills the bugs – and if you’re not careful, leaves white spots on all your clothes!)
- One thing I’ve been particularly aware of this time - things and surfaces get dirty really quickly. Between the general dust and pollution, it only takes a day for items to be covered with a layer of grime.

One nation, One people. Choose peace.

One nation, One people. Choose peace.

So goes the message that you receive from the mobile network provider that I subscribe to in Kenya on topping up credit. The general sense that I’ve got since arriving back in Nairobi a week ago is that people want peace and a restoration of the Kenya that we used to know. The stories that you don’t hear about in the press are of Kenyans reaching out to, and helping each other. I’ve seen this billboard a couple of times now, appealing to Kenyans to donate food, water and clothing to help those who’ve been displaced as a result of the fighting. Churches are similarly collecting items for distribution, and challenging members with spare rooms to consider opening them to displaced peoples. I was talking to one Luo lady yesterday who, with her family, was chased from their home on threat of death by a group of Kikuyu youth. And the person who’s taken them, and 12 other people like them in? – A Kikuyu gentleman.
The first morning after I arrived, I was greeted by txts warning me not to go to various parts of Nairobi due to demonstrations there following the killing the previous evening of an opposition MP. Friends were collecting their children early from school, and there was a general sense of tension and unease. However, since then, as far as my usual routine goes, you wouldn’t really know that anything was going on in the country unless you read a newspaper, or watch or listen to the news. It has seemed so normal, which is bizarre given the circumstances. I had expected to see signs of destruction, especially given the pictures I’ve been seeing on the news, but as of yet, I haven’t seen anything. Of course, I haven’t actually been into the slums where the situation is different. And at the moment, we are advised not to travel out of Nairobi, where again, things are very different. My pastor friend in western Kenya, with whom I’ve spoken a number of times, is exhausted. It’s not safe for him to travel even as far as the other villages where he has churches, and his time is taken up looking after the 30 displaced families who have come to him seeking refuge. He was saying that nothing has prepared him for the pastoral work he’s faced with now.
With the troubles still going on in various parts of the country and city, it almost seems as though the election is forgotten, and that long suppressed issues over post-Independence land allocations are the overriding cause of the hatred amongst some Kenyans (certainly not all) that is leading to the inhumane killings and atrocities that we hear of. This hatred must be getting deeper the longer this goes on without resolution. However, mediation efforts led by Kofi Annan appear to have made a good start with both government and opposition leaders committing themselves to seeking resolution. We can but hope and pray.